Cultivating a Spirit of Gratitude

Cultivating a Spirit of Gratitude
Fr Luke Veronis

Think of someone who is very special in your life. A spouse. A parent. A child. A friend. Now, quietly in your heart offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Think of a teacher from the past, a mentor, someone who taught you some life lessons that you still carry with you. They may be someone from your childhood, or someone recent. Now, quietly in your heart offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Think of some opportunity in your life that has really blessed you. It may be a work opportunity. It may be some opportunity in a relationship or in a friendship. Now, quietly in your heart offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Think of your health, and the wonderful medical advances and the care we have in this country. Even if you have some chronic or serious health issue, think of those who have helped you, been at your side, encouraged you. Now, quietly in your heart offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Think of your faith, this beautiful church and our priceless religious heritage. How has God blessed you throughout your life? How has He comforted you in times of fear, encouraged and strengthened you in times of need, filled you with joy and special blessings. Now, quietly in your heart offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Think of some of the great challenges you have faced in your life. They may not have been pleasant. You may have traveled through some dark times. Yet who was there to support you and help you? How was God present during these darkest times, and how did these times help you grow in character? Even for these difficult challenges, offer a little prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Have we cultivated the spirit of gratitude in our lives? Do we have the eyes to see God’s countless blessings all around us, every day of our lives?

In our secular and church calendars, we have at least two times a year when our attention turns to gratitude. Of course, in November when our country celebrates Thanksgiving, and then in January we always hear the Gospel reading of the Ten Lepers, when ten desperate men come before Jesus asking for healing, and after Christ heals them, only one out of the ten returns to thank God. And the one with gratitude was a foreigner.

Of course, I shouldn’t say we turn our attention to gratitude only twice a year because for all Orthodox Christians who go to Church on Sundays, we gather together as the people of God to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharist, a service of thanksgiving. And every day, whenever we stand before God and enter into His Presence through our morning and evening prayers, or when we offer prayers up to Lord throughout the day, I hope we are expressing words of gratitude and thanksgiving.

As humans, we were created as beings of thanksgiving. This is what makes us unique, children created in the image and likeness of God. Yet, even though we were created as beings of thanksgiving, we have a free choice on whether to express such gratitude or to ignore it. And just like in the story today, often only one out of ten will use their free will properly and say thanks.

Unfortunately, our desire to thank God and to thank those who bless us is sometimes replaced with the vice of complaining, of whining, of focusing on the negative instead of the blessings of life. Too many people focus on what they don’t have and what others may have, instead of appreciating all the gifts we’ve been blessed with.

Our perspective in life will be what we cultivate in our lives, on what we practice every day, on what daily habits we practice. Of course, we have a choice with the attitude we hold and with the worldview with which we look at life – will it be one of thanksgiving or one of entitlement, one of gratitude or one of complaining, one of praising God for all things or one of focusing on what we don’t have? Which spirit do we cultivate in our lives?

As I was googling through the topic of thanksgiving, I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of books with the title “365 Days of Thanksgiving.” These are books describing the journey of trying to focus on every day different things to be thankful for – every day focusing on something new for which to thank God. The beauty of trying to follow this discipline is that if we look for things to thank God for, if we look at the people all around us for whom we are grateful, if we look at opportunities and challenges with gratitude, it changes our entire perspective of life. It changes the way we encounter life itself. In fact, it changes our lives!!!

Gratitude makes us more positive about life, it helps us to see the good in others, it helps us see the good in life all around us! How many of us love being around people who are constantly seeing the good all around them, and expressing gratitude for life itself, compared to hanging around those who are ungrateful and unhappy.

Let us learn from the one grateful leper, and not the other nine. One out of ten returned to God to say “Thank you.” Let us become that one! And may we thank God every day and countless times throughout each day of our lives for the blessings all around us.